Superhero Origins: The Green Lantern

Superhero Origins: The Green Lantern

He is a superhero fueled by the green flame of willpower. Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we will explore the comic book origin of Hal Jordan, DC comic’s second and most popular incarnation of The Green Lantern.

As with most comic book characters, there are often re-imaginations and different versions to a character’s past. We have chosen to primarily follow the storyline, which unfolded in 1959’s Showcase #22, which completely does away with the original hero Alan Scott from the 1940s Golden Age Comics incarnation.

Instead centered on Harold ‘Hal’ Jordan, he was born in Coast City, and grew up idolizing his father, an ace fighter pilot for the US Air Force.

Sadly, one fateful day Hal and his mother witnessed his death in a horrific crash. As a result, she made her son promise not to follow in his father’s footsteps. But as he turned 18 years old, he decided to run away and become a test pilot to realize his lifelong dream of taking to the sky.

Many year’s later while working for the Air Force, he was testing a flight simulator when a field of energy surrounded him. In a flash he was transported to the desert, where he came upon a crashed Alien spaceship.

There he met Abin Sur, a dying alien member of an intergalactic peace keeping force called the Green Lantern Corps.

As it turned out, the injured alien had brought Hal to him though the will of his power ring, as the device deemed Hal to be the most worthy successor on Earth. This was due to possessing innate fearlessness and a deep sense of honesty.

Handed the power ring and its power battery that resembled a lantern, he was transported to the planet Oa, the home of the Green Lantern Corps. There drill sergeant Kilowag, and long-time member Sinestro, trained him to use his newfound powers. However, Hal was unaware that Sinestro would soon defect and become his deadliest enemy, wielding the yellow flame of fear against his own green flame of willpower.

Upon completion of his training he was made a full member, and told about the Green Lantern Corps origin and purpose.

As it turned out, the group and their technology were designed by an ancient race of immortals called the Guardians. They empowered 3600 diverse beings to have them act as protectors of the universe and preserve order. This was spurred by their search for atonement following the actions of one of their kind, who travelled in time to witness the birth of the Universe. Accidentally unleashing all of the evil that exists today.

Understanding his mission, Hal was assigned to his home sector of 2814. There he began forming relationships with other superheroes, such as the Justice League and the Green Arrow, to help combat evil (Justice League of America 1960s Comic series).

In 2011, Ryan Renolds portrayed the character in the film adaptation, which stayed true to the origin story and spirit of this rebooted comic series from the 1950s.